What do you get when you mix a trending topic and great source material?
Great Advertisements is what, and that’s exactly what happened after the widespread appreciation of the Game of Thrones TV series.
The adaptation of the G.R.R.M Fantasy novels has captured the fancy of millions of fans worldwide, making it ripe for any Advertiser to ride the trend wagon to traffic town.
And that’s what they did, with most of the GOT cast gaining substantial personal followings across social media platforms, multiple brands signed them for their fame and iconic show personas (Hodor with Hold the Door and Septa Unella for her role in Cerseis walk of shame) and in some cases infamy (Joffery with his Tantrums and Bronn with his Dragon shooting shenanigans).
Here are some of the best GOT Inspired Ads that can be found on the interwebs.
1. Lunchtime Is Coming
Starring: Hodor (Kristan Nairn)
Brand: KFC
Type: Video Ad
Views: 1,665,061 (Youtube)
While in the U.S. KFC recently built a robot Colonel Sanders, in the U.K., the brand has been riding the wave of “Game of Thrones” fandom. A new ad that has quickly gone viral plays off one of the show’s beloved characters, Hodor, the single word-speaking simpleton played by actor Kristian Nairn.
Nairn stars in the ad, but as a KFC server. In it, customers approach him, relentlessly demanding “Chicken with fries,” which he goes on to endlessly repeat to himself. His performance, and the customers swarming him, echo scenes from a landmark GoT episode, in which Nairn reiterates the iconic line, “Hold the door,”and we go on to discover sad details about Hodor’s history, including the origin of this name.
2. 'Game of Thrones' Meets Sparkling Water in SodaStream's Hilarious Parody TVC
Starring: Gregor Clegane a.k.a The Mountain (Thor Bjornsson)
Brand: SodaStream
Type: TV Commercial
Views: 2,412,173 (Youtube)
HBO’s Game of Thrones Characters Septa Unella (Hannda Waddingham) and Ser Gregor Clegane, AKA “The Mountain,” (Thor Bjornsson) arrive in the real world in a bizarre, hilarious film for SodaStream, “Shame or Glory.”
The video riffs off the HBO’s memorable scene from season 5, in which Cersei Lannister is forced to embark on a walk of shame, in the nude, as Unella rings a bell behind her bellowing, “Shame!”
This time, however, Unella trails and torments a normal dude at a grocery store — for buying bottled seltzer.
As he makes his purchase and heads to his next destination, she pursues him while other look on with disgust — a scary butcher, children — even a millennial or two. He finally arrives on the set of a Hollywood shoot where he delivers the goods to Clegane, who then promptly schools him on his sins against the environment and on a better way, through the Sodastream system.
3. Torrents Morghulis by Hotstar
Production Agency: Hotstar (in-house)
Brand: Hotstar
Type: Billboard display and a series of TVCs
Check out the story behind the creative process here
The ‘Torrents Morghulis’ campaign comprises three TVCs and 50 billboards across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. “Though this may not be a large number per se, we have targeted specific locations and used OOH as an ‘impact medium’ to fuel the conversations around the campaign,” says Sidharth Shakdher, head of acquisition and brand development, Hotstar.
The campaign was created internally by Hotstar’s marketing and creative communication teams. A production house called ‘Dukaan’ was roped in to produce the films.
4. Pepsi Rules The 7 Kingdoms In The Game of Straws
Production Agency: Jekyll n’ Hyde
Brand: Pepsi
Type: Print Ad
Check out the story behind and creative process here
With the latest season of Game of Thrones airing right about now, production company Jekyll n’ Hyde crafted a witty and well executed concept for Pepsi that captures the mind and connects to its fans. The concept is simple, but the clever execution makes for an impressive ad that grabs attention, and makes you thirsty as well.
Don’t forget to 👏 👏 to show your appreciation if your liked the article. It would mean the world to me and also help this reach more GOT fans and help them with the wait for next season in 2019 :(
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